What is Business Process Management?
Business Process Management (BPM) techniques aim to optimise operations across a business by using process automation initiatives driven by human processes. BPM focuses on the operations themselves and employs a four-step technique to improve process management and performance:
• recording any current processes and maintaining records of each step from beginning to end
• determining performance statistics/metrics and using the results as a foundation for ongoing process improvement
• Once identified, improve the process’s quality and efficiency to achieve the desired result.
• managing the process through directing the flow of information, such as actions and related activities
What is Lean Six Sigma?
Another model that tries to improve business performance is Lean Six Sigma. Unlike BPM, Lean Six Sigma accomplishes this by tracking and reducing process variability and failures. This methodology, which combines two powerful process optimization methods: Lean and Six Sigma, has the capacity to eliminate any waste or redundancy from a process. Unlike BPM, Lean Six Sigma analyses business processes analytically with the goal of increasing an organization’s overall customer satisfaction. Lean Six Sigma practices, which incorporate a five-step method, include:
• defining/mapping each and all difficulties in a process collecting data and calculating/displaying variation in the process
• assessing the identified problem reasons, narrowing down the core causes, and deciding on an appropriate improvement outcome
• enhancing the process by looking for alternate options participating in testing, improving, implementing, or justifying all potential solutions
• Controlling process improvements through the development of a process control plan and the implementation of a new solution to ensure project completion
What Happens When You Combine BPM and Lean Six Sigma?
When you combine BPM and Lean Six Sigma, you have one massive powerhouse to assist you operate your operations. The qualities of both techniques complement each other and can produce a harmony that instils a focus on operation quality and performance throughout your entire firm.
The software capabilities of BPM to automate processes and workflow through modelling and evaluation of inputs/outputs and performance are its strengths. Although it lacks the ability to assess data related to complicated challenges, Lean Six Sigma compensates by providing the necessary statistical analysis.
Let us look at five such benefits of integrating BPM and Lean Six Sigma in an enterprise.
Real-time Process Execution and Business Ownership: The main advantage of integrating BPM and Lean Six Sigma is that it speeds up real-time process execution even when the team is scattered across multiple locations. Enterprises can provide outstanding orchestration of processes, inputs, outputs, assessment, documentation, feedback, failure analysis, and more with the correct amount of technological input via BPM and strong process improvement methodologies in Lean Six Sigma. This collaboration yields process automation, which may be carried out via BPM’s automation tools.
Develops Effective Problem-Solving Strategies: Lean Six Sigma can be overly focused on tackling small and very specialized challenges. The data required to eliminate all waste can be easily determined by integrating BPM and Lean Six Sigma. Nonetheless, a standard Lean Six Sigma deployment does not always reach its full potential. And this is when BPM comes into play. Enterprises often benefit the most when the infrastructure that facilitates the integration of two concepts is in place to guarantee all angles are properly covered.
Increased Agility and Speed According to the law of evolution, only the strong survive. Survivors in business, on the other hand, are often those who can adjust to change swiftly and successfully. When things change, it might be tough to come up with new methods that are productive, timely, and cost-effective. These actions, however, can be made easier with Six Sigma and BPM.
Increased Return on Investment (ROI) In general, a project is deemed successful if it generates a return on investment. Six Sigma and BPM have the advantage of being adaptable to a wide range of sectors and business situations, and they can assist bring long-term development in a variety of areas.
Six Sigma can be used in many different industries, including manufacturing, commercial offices, healthcare facilities, and financial organisations. BPM can also be used in the banking, telecommunications, healthcare, insurance, and government sectors, to mention a few.
Six Sigma and business process management do not have to be separate concepts. Despite differences in focus and tactics, their combined methodologies can help firms eliminate errors, enhance quality and productivity, and optimise, manage, and control operations more efficiently.